For the second straight week we avoided chaos at the top of the rankings as things stabilize heading into rivalry weekend and the regular season finale of 2023.
Here’s the latest 18S Top 20 Poll.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 11-0 | at Georgia Tech |
| 2 | Washington | 11-0 | vs. Washington State |
| 3 | Ohio State | 11-0 | at Michigan |
| 4 | Florida State | 11-0 | at Florida |
| 5 | Michigan | 11-0 | vs. Ohio State |
| 6 | Texas | 10-1 | vs. Texas Tech |
| 7 | Alabama | 10-1 | at Auburn |
| 8 | Oregon | 10-1 | vs. Oregon State |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 9-2 | vs. TCU |
| 10 | Louisville | 10-1 | vs. Kentucky |
| 11 | Ole Miss | 9-2 | at Miss State |
| 12 | Missouri | 9-2 | at Arkansas |
| 13 | Penn State (+1) | 9-2 | at Michigan State |
| 14 | Tulane (+3) | 10-1 | vs. UTSA |
| 15 | Arizona (+4) | 8-3 | at Arizona State |
| 16 | Oregon State (-3) | 8-3 | at Oregon |
| 17 | LSU (+1) | 8-3 | vs. Texas A&M |
| 18 | Notre Dame (+2) | 8-3 | at Stanford |
| 19 | Kansas State (NR) | 8-3 | vs. Iowa State |
| 20 | Iowa (NR) | 9-2 | at Nebraska |
Out:
#15 Utah
#16 James Madison
National Storylines
It was a valiant effort that came up short as Maryland decided it didn’t want to become America’s team and knock off Michigan. The Wolverines held on in College Park 31-24.
Oklahoma was on upset alert the whole game only to come back and beat BYU 31-24.
The magical season for Arizona continues with a 42-18 thrashing of Utah.
Iowa makes their first appearance in the 18S poll this season after gaining their 9th win in style 15-13 over visiting Illinois.
Georgia pulled away and end up having no trouble with Tennessee 38-10 in Knoxville.
Bo Nix threw 6 touchdowns in the 1st half as Oregon blasted Arizona State 49-13.
North Alabama briefly led Florida State for a while and Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a gruesome leg injury. However, FSU rallied for an easy 58-13 win.
Kansas State held off rival Kansas 31-27.
A last-second field goal brought Missouri a 33-31 win over visiting Florida.
Oregon State outplayed Washington except for on the scoreboard as the Huskies stay undefeated following a 22-20 win.
Opponent Watch
Navy (5-5): The Middies climb to .500 after a 10-0 win versus East Carolina.
Tennessee State (6-5): A big oof as the Tigers lose 35-0 to Tennessee Tech.
NC State (8-3): Notre Dame’s best win! The Wolfpack beat Virginia Tech 35-28.
Central Michigan (5-6): A 2-game losing skid for CMU following their 30-24 loss to Ohio.
Ohio State (11-0): Minnesota were no match for the Buckeyes, 37-3.
Duke (6-5): Now 2-5 since they entered the Irish game, Duke lost to Virginia 30-27.
Louisville (10-1): Louisville clinched an appearance in the ACC Championship following a 38-31 win at Miami.
USC (7-5): The Trojans season is done losing 5 out of their last 6, including 38-20 this past weekend to rival UCLA.
Pitt (3-8): The Panthers snapped their losing streak with a Thursday night 24-16 win versus Boston College.
Clemson (7-4): This is 3 straight wins for Clemson following a 31-20 win against North Carolina.
Wake Forest (4-7): The Demon Deacons season concludes at Syracuse this weekend.
Stanford (3-8): A mostly empty stadium watched Stanford lose 27-15 against California.
Week 13 Games to Watch
All time are eastern.
Ole Miss [-11.5] at Miss State
Thursday, Nov. 23rd, 7:30 PM, ESPN
Quietly, one of the best holiday traditions is switching over to the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving after an all-day NFL bonanza.
UTSA [+3] at Tulane
Friday, Nov. 24th, 3:30 PM, ABC
Both of these teams are undefeated in the ACC, plus SMU (facing Navy on a Saturday noon timeslot) is also unbeaten and looking to make the league championship game. I’m not sure what will happen with the tie-breakers between the loser of this game and if SMU also loses.
Oregon State [+14.5] at Oregon
Friday, Nov. 24th, 8:30 PM, Fox
The rivalry formerly known as the Civil War has brought us some excellent games in recent memory, including last year’s 38-34 win for the Beavers. I was expecting a touch higher spread in this game if only because of Oregon State’s poor history at Auzten. Coming into the weekend, the Beavers have lost their last 7 trips and 13 out of their last 14 inside the home of the Ducks.
Ohio State [+4] at Michigan
Saturday, Nov. 25th, 12:00 PM, Fox
I’ve never wanted Ohio State to win a football game so badly in my life.
Alabama [-14.5] at Auburn
Saturday, Nov. 25th, 3:30 PM, CBS
You may think Auburn’s shocking 31-10 home loss to New Mexico State (holy crap what a season for Jerry Kill who has the Aggies 9-3 and in the Conference USA Championship Game) precludes them from bringing it against Alabama this weekend. Folks, it’s the Iron Bowl.
Florida State [-11.5] at Florida
Saturday, Nov. 25th, 7:00 PM, ESPN
What does Florida State do now? How are they going to bounce back emotionally after losing their star quarterback in this type of situation where the playoffs and an undefeated season are so close? It would be pretty cool if they did end up beating Florida and Louisville–and one would assume–they’d be a lock for the playoffs at 13-0, right? What wouldn’t be as cool is if this happens and the Noles get matched up with Michigan in the semi-finals. It’s happening isn’t it?
Three Big West teams are bowl eligible – Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern. Each play a Big West team needing that sixth win in Rivalry Week – Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois respectively. Nebraska and Minnesota have lost three straight. The Over/Under for Nebraska-Iowa is 26.5 down three points since its Opening.
As far as losing streaks, Air Force has now lost three straight – Army, Hawaii, and UNLV – after winning their first eight. The losses to Army and Hawaii were particularly head-scratching since the Falcons were favored by 18 in both games. AF committed ten turnovers in those two games while committing only six total in their other games. They played Hawaii there on Military Day, which was also Veterans Day holiday. After losing by 18 points, Air Force’s chartered plane flight home that Saturday night was canceled due to mechanical failure requiring another night on Oahu before leaving. Arrangements were being made to return players on commercial flights, but indications were some would fly home on Sunday and others may have to fly home on Monday. Despite what turned out to be a the short week, Air Force lost to UNLV by four points.
Hawaii plays thirteen games this year. Including the CUSA Championship game and a bowl game, New Mexico State will play fifteen games.
I was shocked when Iowa scored 15 points and it wasn’t on 5 field goals. Iowa beating Michigan 11 (three FGs and a safety) to 9 would be the most B1G 10 West thing to ever happen, and I would be here for it.
The B1G 10 West is 0-9 in the Conference Championship Game, and I expect that to become 0-10 when Iowa faces the winner of OSU/UM.
You don’t really want tOSU to win. You want Michigan to be beaten.
To be honest, I am hoping both teams lose to a meteor strike.
What we want is an extremely controversial, ref-aided win by Ohio State, followed by an epic pants-shitting in Indy against Iowa.
I want Ohio State to win by a million.
Yeah, a nice 84-0 with 5 defensive/special teams scores. Just a satisfying laugher the whole way
I don’t believe that. I think you want Michigan to lose by a million. And I’m all for that too.
In these trying times, there can be no half-hearted measures.
Ohio State has to win and win big.
Anyone trying to tell me that the sign stealing that Michigan had been participating in had/has no bearing on the outcome of their games is full of it. I’ve heard things like culture. NFL caliber coordinators, talent development, and a lot of other excuses from talking heads. The fact of the matter is, in college football where practices and film study are limited, where psychology (good play/result vs bad play/result) can still effect the motivation and effort of players, and the momentum built off of such outcomes, knowing the play the other team is going to run is much bigger in college than the NFL. If you look at MI’s last two games where they have been under a microscope, they just don’t quite seem as dominate, they lost a step. I think Ohio St. is going to blow them out. You know, like the games MI lost to tOSU prior to sign stealing. 2017 to 2019 tOSU won this game by an average of 3 TD’s. I’d take tOSU straight up in this one.
Washington and Florida St both have dangerous games this coming weekend. If one or both of them lose, it will give Oregon and Texas (if they take care of business) a chance to sneak in to the playoff picture.
Their celebration as the first team to reach 1,000 wins is worth the appropriate recognition even with the cheating to be addressed with the NCAA disciplinary arm. The best legal advice for the coaching staff and perhaps the University is to reach severance agreements so that they do not lie to NCAA investigators and are free to seek immunity in exchange for testimony in the FBI’s. The University is fully cooperating and provide everything they have with a looming cloud of institutional control.
An Ohio State blog wrote addressing the 1,000 wins:
“Pretending to have a deeply emotional connection to wins against local beer league teams in 1881 is a huge part of the Michigan Man brand,”
What is largely ignored in the construction of a self-image is that Michigan has won one National Championship (which was shared) in seventy-six years. Their major bowl record is 21-29. .420%. In that same time period, Notre Dame, for instance, won six National Championship with a major bowl record of 20-21, .488%.
We don’t have to play Michigan. Their fanbase says we need them much more than they need us. I just hope that there are enough mental health facilities in the state should the NCAA vacate a number of those wins. I’d rather we play teams that respect us.
Oregon State [+14.5] at Oregon
Friday, Nov. 24th, 8:30 PM, Fox
From: Bill Oram: The death of a rivalry, a lifelong Oregon-Oregon State observer’s lament
From: Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers bring high stakes, murky future into 127th rivalry game